Hay Batrachians and Reptiles of D. C. 143 



49. Chelydra serpentina (Linn.). Snapping Turtle. 



Shell high in front, low and notched behind, and with three keels, a 

 median and two lateral, which become obsolete with age; body heaviest 

 forward; head and neck very large, the snout narrowed forwards; jaws 

 strongly hooked and very powerful; tail long, its upper margin with a 

 crest of horny compressed tubercles, its ventral surface with two rows of 

 moderate scales; plastron small, cross shaped, with nine plates be 

 sides the very narrow bridge; claws, 5-4, strong; soft skin everywhere 

 with wrinkles and warts; fore-arm, hands, and feet with large scales. 

 Carapace dusky brown or black, head and neck brown, plastron and soft 

 skin whitish or yellow. This species, it is said, sometimes attains a 

 length of 4^ feet, but the largest specimen which I have seen in this 

 locality was 2 feet long. It is fairly common in the marshes, ponds, and 

 shallow waters about Washington. 



50. Kinosternon pennsylvanicum (Bosc). Eastern Mud Turtle; 

 Skillpot. 



Body oval; carapace with three indistinct keels, evident in the young 

 but entirely disappearing in the adult; plastron large, almost filling the 

 opening of the carapace, its anterior and posterior lobes movable on the 

 fixed central portion, the anterior lobe rounded and with a single gular 

 scute, the posterior lobe notched behind; head of moderate size. Males 

 with two patches of sharp edged scales on the hind legs and the tail 

 ending in a horny point. Carapace horn color or brown, plastron yellow 

 or brown; soft skin above, brownish with yellow spots; head and neck with 

 yellow stripes; skin of lower surfaces yellow. Length, about 5 inches. 



Fairly common in the marshy parts of the District. 



51. Aromochelys odoratus (Bosc). Marsh Turtle; Stink Pot. 



Body oval but much narrower in the adults than in the young; the 

 carapace with a more or less prominent median keel; plastron narrow, 

 lacking much of filling the opening of the carapace, only its anterior lobe 

 movable; gular scute single; posterior lobe of plastron notched behind; 

 head large, snout projecting, jaws strong, the lower one hooked. Tail 

 of males coiled at tip and furnished with a small nail. Carapace brownish 

 or horn color, often spotted or striped with dark brown; upper surfaces 

 of head, neck, and limbs brown, the lower surfaces paler; plastron yellow; 

 head with two yellow stripes on each side. Length, 5 inches. 



This disagreeable and repulsive turtle is often met with in the marshes 

 about the city and can usually be obtained with ease at Four Mile Run 

 or the Bennings Swamp. It is sometimes taken by the angler on his 

 hook. 



52. Pseudemys rubriventris (LeConte). Red-bellied Terrapin; Slider. 



Body oval, less rounded and less elevated in the adults than in the 

 young; alveolar surface of jaw broad and with a longitudinal, tuberculated 



